Stateline Queensland

Kick Off

DAVID CURNOW: As we recover from the joy of watching the Broncos win the National Rugby League competition football fans are hoping they'll have more reason to celebrate after Saturday night, when the Socceroos take on Paraguay at Lang Park. The match is being played in the after glow of the World Cup. But it's been soured by the suspension of captain Craig Moore and controversy involving Mark Schwarzer. Ian Eckersley spoke with the Australian goalkeeper.

IAN ECKERSLEY: After the fantastic welcome you got in the city yesterday, has the team got a fuller appreciation of how much the World Cup captivated the nation?

MARK SCHWARZER, SOCCEROO GOAL KEEPER: I think we've still only got the tip of the iceberg. I think we'll never, ever really experience or get the feel of what it was really like back here during the World Cup.

IAN ECKERSLEY: Does the whole World Cup experience seem like a sweet dream as you look at it now, with a nightmare ending?

MARK SCHWARZER: The whole thing was an unbelievable ride. You know it was a journey we’d all been on since we were kids. Thankfully we were able to make it a reality by going to the World Cup and playing in the World Cup. I think we did our country and I think we did ourselves proud and I think we did put Australia on the map.

IAN ECKERSLEY: You’ve caused a stir and I guess you’re not surprised with your controversial comments in your new diary about Guus Hiddink.

MARK SCHWARZER: I made it blatantly obvious that I didn't agree with his policy and the way he dealt with the goalkeeping position. It didn’t necessarily mean that was the way everyone felt. That was my personal opinion and I stick by that. I still feel that today. I still believe that what I said in the book about his management skills with regard to the goalkeeping position I would have to question.

IAN ECKERSLEY: Did you ever talk to Guus about your frustration and dissatisfaction with the way he was handling the keeping situation?

MARK SCHWARZER: No, because he's not the type of guy that you would go up to and discuss it with. Because you're in the midst of a World Cup campaign and if he would have said to us, "go and jump over that brick wall” or “jump against that brick wall” or “run against that brick wall," we would have done it. Because we knew that this is the respect we also had for him. He's a tremendous manager.

IAN ECKERSLEY: Your relationship with fellow keeper Zelkjo Kalac is intriguing some people think you guys hate each other, what's the relationship?

MARK SCHWARZER: On the contrary we don’t hate each other whatsoever. We’re not best of friends but we are friends. And you know I know him since I’m 11 years old. We’ve been in competition for places since that age. We don't have to be best friends but we are, we are we're on speaking terms, we are friendly to one another, there's no problems at all.

IAN ECKERSLEY: Has the rivalry with him been a motivating factor for you through your international career?

MARK SCHWARZER: It's been great because you've had this opportunity the rivalry is always healthy in a team atmosphere, provided it’s in the right sort of atmosphere provided it’s in the right sense.

IAN ECKERSLEY: The Craig Moore saga has cast a bit of a shadow over the week, is Craig paying a higher price for the higher expectations of the Socceroos after their success?

MARK SCHWARZER: Previously you’ve always had that responsibility. But I suppose you had a little bit more leniency in what you could get away with and what you couldn’t get away with in a sense from the media point of view not so much from the FFA because those guidelines have always been in place the FFA guidelines and the agreement between us and the FFA. So we understand that there are guidelines that you need to stick to and if you don't there are gonna be consequences.

IAN ECKERSLEY: Of course the low point of the World Cup was being bundled out by Italy in controversial circumstances. Just take us back to that match, talk us through your emotions of that penalty.

MARK SCHWARZER: It was more dramatic than obviously against Uruguay because Uruguay you knew that you had at least five opportunities to make a difference to save the penalty whereas against Italy you knew, you knew it was very close to being full-time. I didn't know how close it was but I knew it was close and to think if I don’t save this we’ve got so little time to try and score. You know we’ve had 90 minutes to try and score and we weren’t able to do it. You think the worst at one stage, you think I've got to save it otherwise this is it, this could be the end. And unfortunately I went the right way but I wasn't able to get near the penalty. So to then have the whistle be blown seven seconds later was the dagger through the heart really.

IAN ECKERSLEY: Mark how important is it for the team to win against Paraguay on Saturday night, both in terms of confidence and public relations?

MARK SCHWARZER: I think from a confidence point of view it’s always good to win and you always want to win and when you win that does build even more confidence but it's not gonna be the end of the world. We want to win, we want to go off in a good note and we want to repay the supporters in Australia we want to show the general public. We don't want results to start to dictate people's opinions of us again which in the end that’s how you get judged, you get judged by results.